Frans Steyn captains Sharks warm up team

The Sharks have named their team to play the Leopards in a Super Rugby warm up match in Pietermartizburg on Friday this week with Frans Steyn captaining the side.

Steyn won 56 caps for the Sharks before he left to play in France and then on his return last year he won a further two caps which makes him one of the most senior Sharks players in the squad.

Last year's vice captain Bismarck du Plessis still in rehab for a knee injury and expected to miss the first few rounds of Super Rugby Steyn will deputise for team captain Keegan Daniel.

"Frans Steyn is going to captain the team because Keegan is going to play off the bench in our warm-up game this Friday," John Plumtree said on the Sharks site.

"I saw him as good back up to Keegan and it's an opportunity for him to grow his leadership. I've noticed a big difference in him in terms of his personality and character since he's come back from France. The players have a lot of respect for him as an individual and as a player.

"He's a very competitive person, he doesn't like to come second in anything he does and he's probably going to be a regular starter."

The line up to play the Leopards is a mix of old and new with Franco van der Merwe earning his first run for the Sharks with regular campaigners in Jacques Botes, Jean Deysel, Charl McLeod, Patrick Lambie, Lwazi Mvovo and Odwa Ndungane all starting.